Pass it On
by Hysteria82
Summary: Who would have thought that germs could be useful? A humorous, multichapter story where Ed and Roy discover the possibility of romance thanks to the help of various viruses. Used to be titled 'Winter'
1. November

It was late fall -or maybe early winter would be more appropriate considering the amount of snow outside- and Riza Hawkeye loved it. The snowy landscape was beautiful this time of year, it was hard to deny that, but it had nothing to do with her the internal bliss she always felt during this time of year. That warm happy feeling was only there due to one reason and one reason alone. 

It was Flu season.

All the hacking and coughing that could be heard this time of year always brought a smile to her face. Not because she liked to see others suffer or anything like that, but because it was enough to scare the overly flirtatious and amazingly lazy colonel out of his dating habits for fear of illness. As he once said, "one night of fun in bed during flu season isn't worth risking a week in bed being sick and miserable."

And with all those lovely ladies currently pushed aside, Roy mustang had very little else to do and boredom, sooner or later, would drive him to finish up some much needed paper work. Which met that she would be be able to leave the office on time for once.

Very little could ruin her good mood. Not even a small grumpy blond tossing more forms down onto her desk. 

"Good morning Edward." she said casually, the monotone level of her voice not betraying her good mood. Edward grunted in response but she paid no attention to his rude behavior as she skimmed though the forms and mark what ever was necessary before handing them back to him before returning to her own work.

"Have the Colonel sign these were appropriate and everything should be good for the time being."

Edward wasn't overly thrilled about having to so the Colonel but that wasn't new. Taking a deep breath he made his way over to the office hoping the 'bastard' would just shut the hell up and file the request for once. He really didn't feel up to dealing with that guy's bullshit today.

-

A loud bang as his office door was kicked open marking the arrival of Fullmetal was enough to start the man but the only proof of that surprise was the slightly wavy 'G' at the end of his signature. He took a moment to consider the slight flaw before deciding it was good enough, set the form aside, and continued to ignore the young genius.

He grabbed another paper and ran his eyes over the tiny text, not really actually reading it but giving a good impression of work as he considered the smaller alchemist's arrival.

Fullmetal wasn't due to report on till later and it was unheard of for the boy to show up on time, let alone early. 

Mustang honestly had no idea why Edward was here. Granted he could just ask the boy and solve this whole mystery but where would the fun be in that?

So, instead of quenching his curiosity he chose to ignore his subordinate.

It wasn't hard for him to imagine the blond's face getting redder and redder as he his temper grew as the clock ticked the seconds away, but it was fairly difficult to hide the amused grin that threated to appear due to such metal images.

Fullmetal was always a good form of amusement. Perhaps he should send the elder Elric off on the pointless mission. Nothing major. Just something annoying that would be enough the ruffle the young mans feathers but easy enough that he'd be able to report before the office closed tonight.

He rolled such possibilities around in his head while he waited for Fullmetal's traditional form of greeting. AKA, fists slamming into his desk. He didn't have to wait long. Just as he predicted, to fists -one metal, one flesh- made contacted with the old oak desk. The dent on the wood and the crumpled papers in the one hand clearing showing Edward's irritation.

Setting his pen aside, the older alchemist folded his hands under his chin and smirked as he prepared to offer the traditional, and much hated, short joke.

"Oh, hello Fullmetal. I didn't see you enter. All this paper work..." he said, gesturing at the nearly nonexistent stack, "must have blocked my view of the floor. How can I help you?"

Now all that he had to do was sit back and wait for the childish hissy fit that always followed such comments and then he could find out why the boy was really there.

He waited patiently for the expected temper tantrum but only received a wicked glare for his efforts. 

He raised an eyebrow at the unexpected display of composer. Of all the reactions Edward could have had, he really didn't expect anything near a display of maturity.

Maybe the boy was finally growing up.

Nah... It was early, he probably just missed the joke...

"Maybe you didn't hear me way down there but I said..." he started, not bothering to be subtle, in hope of riling him up and putting their normal game back on track but Edward apparently didn't want to play that game anymore.

He tossed the forms aside and answered the taunt in a completely new way.

In a blink of an eye the long haired man had his metal hand fisted firmly in his superior's lapels and roughly pulled the man over his desk and into a rough, sloppy kiss.

If the initial kiss wasn't enough the surprise the man then the inexperience tongue forcing it's way into his mouth and sharp teeth togging at his lower lip most certainly did.

The colonel blinked stupidly for a moment - completely caught off guard- before pushing aside any confusions, morals, and hesitations to simply return the kiss with a skill unmatched by many.

A few moments passed slowly and just as the younger man started to show any improvement in kissing he pulled away quickly- panting slightly- and left the room with no explanation of his arrival, his actions, or his exit.

Roy took a deep breath before arranging himself back into his chair and turned toward the window as he though about todays unlikely event.

The Fullmetal Alchemist had just kissed him but for some reason he wouldn't seem to find any winged pigs fluttering around outside... Something didn't make sense.

Shaking his head slightly, he turned back around and prepared to finish his work only to finally notice the crinkled papers Edward had brought with him. Unwrinkled it the best he could, he read the form and couldn't help but grin.

It was a request for sick leave. Edward Elric had Influenza and was highly contagious.

The world made sense again.

-

It was early winter, or perhaps late fall would be more appropriate considering the warm front that had recently passed through, melting the snow, and Riza hated it. Most of the staff, including Colonel Mustang, had fallen victims to the various illnesses that tended to get passed around this time of year, leaving her, and only her, with a large stack of paper work that needed to be filled out and filed accordingly. 

There was no way she's be leaving work on time today. 


	2. December

Winter... what a crappy time of year. 

Thanks to everybody calling off sick or heading home for the holidays, the few solders remaining in the city - people like Edward Elric- had to waist their precious time doing, of all things, paper work.

Eying the seemingly endless pile of forms, Edward couldn't help but sigh. He should be spending this time doing important research to help get his brother's body back, but, apparently, Hawkeye had other ideas. He sometimes wished that woman and her gun wasn't so scary...

He set the latest form aside, stretched, and shook out his cramping hand, noting to himself that a gun shot wound probably would have been less painful than his current stiffness.

Glancing at the clock, he was disappointed to find out that the eternity he'd just spent filling out countless papers was, in reality, only slightly more than six hours. He still had four more hours to go...

No wonder the damn colonel was always trying it get out of this.

Turning back towards the dreaded paperwork, he made a disgusted face at it and considered following his lazy superior's example -sneaking off for a nap- when a strong hand grabbed his braid near the nape of the neck, pulling his head back sharply, forcing it to hang over the back of the chair in an awkward, uncomfortable position.

Wincing slightly due to the harsh treatment, he glared up at the culprit and was unhappy to find that it was that lazy good-for-nothing colonel.

Fullmetal took a deep breath, preparing to start his 'What-the-fuck' rant, but was rudely silenced by a pair of warm lips meeting his own and sealing his mouth shut.

He gasped in surprise and choked slightly as the kiss was deepened -was the man trying to lick his tonsils or something?- but he forced himself to relax and soon, despite his best efforts, was enjoying it. Though he would never, ever, admit it.

A few moments passed and the haired man pulled away, retreating towards the door. Edward sat up, following the rushed movement while licking his moist lips before whispering, "What the hell?"

Roy Mustang paused his escape to make eye contact.

"Strep Throat, Fullmetal. Enjoy." he answered in a scratchy voice then left.

The younger alchemist blinked at the answer before grinning, clearly amused at being caught in his own game. 

Having the colonel decided to 'play-a-long' had been unexpected, and maybe even unwelcome, but at least the smug bastard didn't call him short for once. 


	3. January

Three hours into the new year and it's cold, bitter, and wet. Bad omen for the upcoming year perhaps?

Roy Mustang snorts at the thought and shakes his head, feeling silly for thinking about such silly superstitions as he shakes out his umbrella. It has to be the booze giving him such dumb ideas.

With out further delay, he stumbles a few steps forward, discovers that he's still a little tipsy – a little tipsy being defined as dead drunk- from the New Years party he's just attended, and decides that, yes, it is the booze's fault. 

It takes some effort but he manages to make it down the outside stairs without any problems until he comes across a red object blocking his path. 

Momentarily he considers walking around the thing but the other railing is really far away -all the way on the other side of the steps even- and it just doesn't seem worth the effort, so he turns his attention back towards the red blur.

He blinks down at the blur, pondering what to do and knowing that the answer really shouldn't be this hard to come up with, when a completely obvious thought hits him.

That blur isn't really a blur at all! It's Fullmetal! In his red coat!

Slowly, he manages to plop down next to the boy who gives him an odd look... like he had a booger sticking out of his nose or something...

The drunken colonel quickly checks to make sure he doesn't have a booger sticking out of his nose before turning to his long haired companion and saying, in a rather slurred voice: "It's raining."

Edwards raising an eyebrow at the pretty obvious statement, before nodding his head in confirmations, that yes, it is raining.

"Why are you sitting in the rain?" Roy asks.

"Why are YOU sitting in the rain?" Ed counters right back.

The statement seems to amuse the man and he giggles in an undignified was before stating another obvious fact: "Because I'm drunk. What's your excuse?"

It's hard not to laugh at that answer so he doesn't try to hold it back. Soon the chuckles die down to a few quite snorts and he covers his grin with his hand though amusement is still clearly shown in his golden eyes as he looks out over the dark city, not bothering to answer.

Roy accepts the silence, knowing, even when he's drunk, that if Edward didn't want to talk, then he wouldn't. 

Still, there was no reason that the blond should have to spend the first day of the new year sitting in the rain and moping about who know what... with that thought in mind, the Mustang settls down and makes himself comfortable.

Edward, for once, doesn't seem to mind his company.

It's dawn when the silence is finally broken with a faint sniffle and the sound of joints popping the blond stands and stretches.

Gazing down at his superior, he doesn't say anything, just leans over and presses a chaste kiss to his cold, chapped, lips and pulls back before the other could respond.

"Give me strep throat, you bastard Colonel." he mutters and sniffles again, "Hope you start the new year with a fucking cold..."

Both of them are smart enough to know that the contact from the soft kiss is far too short and probably not nearly physical enough to pass along any germs, but neither one of them comments.

Roy just sits and watches the blond leave -hands tucked into his pockets- before turning his gaze to the horizon.

Edward is long gone and the sun has risen above the buildings by the time he stands to leave. Looking around, he notices that the rain has stopped and it's clearing up to become a beautiful day.

Smiling, he begins to head home, glad that it was already shaping out to be a good year. 


	4. February

Thanks to Valentine's Day, February was often known as "the lover's" month. Yes, a whole month devoted to lonely woman willing to give just about anything for a romantic evening with a lady's man such as himself.

And yet here he was, Colonel Roy Mustang, cavalier extraordinaire, in bed and woman less.

That thought alone would have been enough to justify the pitiful groan he heard escape from his own mouth, but in reality it was just the result of horrible symptom upon horrible symptom taking a toll on his fever-stricken body.

For a moment ... and just a moment, mind you... he was almost glad he didn't have any lady callers knocking on his door. After all, he felt like hell and despite being known as the 'kissing disease ,' mono didn't seem to put him in a romantic mood.

Cuddling deeper into the mound of blankets, Mustang pushed those thoughts aside in favor of trying to return to that wonderful state of unconscious bliss called sleep.

Yes, sleep…a way to escape the chills, the sore throat, and that horrible pounding in his head that just seemed to go 'BANG BANG BANG…'

It took a moment for his fever-ridden mind to realize that the banging was not in his head, and it took a few more moments to register that if the banging wasn't being caused by his headache then something else was causing it, and it took even longer to comprehend that violent banging within his house was probably not a good sign when one had as many enemies as he did.

Sitting up clumsily, he instantly tried to grab his gloves from the bedside table but his attempt was foiled by a solid weight slamming into his midriff, effectively taking his breath away. Though, being breathless probably didn't matter since he doubted he could breathe with the bloody nose that was a direct result of the blow to the face which he had received upon the initial attack.

Gasping for air, he gripped his battered nose and managed to choke a few times on his own blood before stopping the bleeding. Once calmed, he returned the young blonde's -who was now perched on his lap, legs straddling his thighs and arms crossed- glare.

Rummaging up whatever dignity an injured, sick man could, he sat up straight, cleaned the blood from his face and turned his attention towards the younger alchemist.

"Not a very polite was to greet your ill superior, Fullmetal," he informed his subordinate. "And you wonder why I tend to think so… little of you."

"Don't start that shit with me, you bastard," Edward hissed in response. "Explain to me why Hawkeye has mono!"

Roy looked at the boy and blinked.

Was he hearing right? Edward Elric, violent tendencies and all, had broken into his house and assaulted him just because he heard that Hawkeye was sick?

He repeated the question aloud and got a scowl in response while strong hands gripped the lapels of his pajamas roughly.

"Yes! I want to know why the hell Hawkeye has it instead of... instead... Instead of her being healthy and in the office..." He finished the rant rather lamely, a slight blush across his cheek due to his near slip-up.

"She probably has it due to kissing the wrong person... It is the 'kissing disease', after all..."

"Damn it, Mustang! Can't you keep your pants on around anyone!" Ed said, slamming the dark-haired man against the headboard as he growled his frustration.

"I didn't get her sick, Fullmetal. She got me sick."

"What difference does it make? You still kissed her!" he pointed out.

"You can catch mono from more things that just kissing. The germs can be passed on by breathing the same air in a confined space or by sharing the same cup, for example. Both of which we do."

Edward looked at the man and blinked.

"Are you saying you didn't kiss her?" he asked.

"I didn't kiss her," Roy confirmed.

Ed released his hold on Roy's shirt and fidgeted nervously -all signs of his previous anger vanishing at the confession. Looking Mustang straight in the eye, he took a deep breath and said, "Oh."

Rolling his eyes, Roy ran a finger over his still-sore nose - he didn't think it was broken - and offered his current annoyance a half hearted glare before grabbing the blonde's red overcoat and pulling him down into a rough tongue-filled kiss.

Edward put up the expected struggle, though the lack of a fist connecting with his face told him that it was just for show.

As soon as Mustang released him, Edward jumped back and nearly fell off the bed, quickly he scrub at his mouth with his sleeve as if something disgusting, like milk, had touched his lips.

The colonel assumed that was all for show, too. Though, considering that he had been bedridden for the past few days and remained unwashed, unshaved, and probably looked half-dead thanks to the illness, it wouldn't be overly surprising if the expression on Ed's face was one of true disgust.

He almost felt bad about kissing him while in such a state, but the dull ache in his nose reminded him that the boy deserved no sympathy.

"What was that for, you pervert?" Edward asked in his typically loud, Fullmetal way.

"I just thought Hawkeye might feel better knowing she wasn't the only one that caught mono from a kiss," Roy answered in his typically smug, colonel tone.

"I don't care what you think, you bas... - Wait, she got it from kissing, right? Who the hell did she catch it from?"

"I believe Havoc is currently out with the same sickness."

Stepping away from the bed startled, he stood there looking dumbstruck for a while before staring at the colonel as if he was nuts.

"Havoc and Hawkeye? No kidding?"

"No kidding."

Shaking his head in a disapproving manner, he turned away from the man and started walking towards the door, stopping once his gloved hand rested upon the golden knob.

"Talk about fucked-up relationships, huh? Damn, it makes you wonder what the hell people are thinking... Well, anyway..." He looked over his shoulder at the sick man. "Sorry about punching you and stuff. Hope you feel better soon..."

"If by 'soon' you mean 'three or four weeks'... yes, I'm sure I will."

"Three or four weeks! Mono lasts a month and you fucking kissed me!"

"Yes. Try and top that, Fullmetal."

"Bastard," Edward snarled, and slammed the door on the way out.

The colonel grinned a smug, content smile.

He might have been sick this Valentine's Day, but he still managed to get a cute young blond to jump into bed with him and make out.

Yeah, he was a stud. And with that thought in mind, he laid back down and attempted to get some much needed sleep. 


	5. March

Note: Wow! 57 reviews... I never dreamed I'd get that many. Well, all you reviews should thank yourselves because I would have probably lost interested and stopped writting if it wasn't for all of you. Thanks.

Also, I rewrote the previous chapters a bit. There's less of a 'monthly' theme then there was before but this leave it a little more open and thus, easier to update. I'd alsolike to point out that the story is no longer called Winter. It was very breifly called 'Seasons'but thenI got rid of the 'Monthly' theme and didn't think it fit anymore. So, instead I'm using the idea of one of my reviewers and calling the story 'Pass it on.' It's simple and has the 'bad pun' feeling most of my titles have which makes it perfect. Thanks for all the suggestions. :)

One last thing... does anyone want to be my beta? My former one was great but she has a ton of stories or her own to write plus she proof reads for like... 100 other people soIalways feel bad asking her. anyways, onto the story...

-----

Like most winter nights, it was frigid outside. The blast of cold air from the recently open window easily woke the colonel from a deep slumber, leaving him alert to the fact that he was no longer alone.

Steadying himself, he faked a snore and flopped onto his side, careful to keep he breath shallow as he forged slumber and discreetly slide his hand towards a tiny array caved in the wooden headboard.

He was startled when a cold hand settled on his own as and a warm, familiar voice chuckled near his ear.

"Relax, Colonel. If I wanted to kill you, you'd already be dead."

Releasing a wary sigh, he allowed himself to relaxe and roll back over to glance up at a smug, moonlit face that could hardly be seen in the darkness of night.

"Be thankful..." he yawned lazily, "That I'm used to people trying to sneak into my bed, or you would have been fried the moment I heard the window opened, Fullmetal."

Edward snorted and crawled rudely over his superior, attempting to get a better look at the small array. "You were snoring so loud I probably could have blasted off the whole side of the house and I doubt you would've notice! Plus, you don't even have your gloves on, and I seriously doubt whatever you got caved up here could have stopped me... move out of the way soI can see it." He scratch at the design with a metal digit, internally analyzing the symbols and lines.

"What the hell is this for?" the young alchemist scowled. "Not a very practical way to catch a thief. I mean, not only would it be hard to reach to activate it but it's also... so... it's... You're a fucking pervert, Mustang. I swear, only you would have something like that caved into your bed..." he said, scooting over to the far side of the mattress and frown as Mustang followed his movements with lidded eyes and a sly smirk.

"Actually..." he informed with a smile, "I stole the idea from a lady-friend of mine, so I am most certainly not the only one with this array..."

"Just shut up! I didn't come here to hear about your filthy fetishes or slutty girlfriends!"

"Are you jealous? Wasn't I paying enough attention to you? Do you feel..."

"NO! NO FUCKING WAY! JUST SHUT UP ALREADY YOU DAMN EGO MANIAC! FUCKING BASTARD!"

Roy silently laughed at Fullmetal's rant and used his anger as a distraction. Soon, Edward was firmly pinned down and choking on his own curses before he even had a chance to twist words around and make Roy's previous mocking into an insult about his height.

Deciding to take advantage of his position before the yelling could begin again, he pinned both flesh and metal hands down firmly and silenced any protests with his mouth.

It was a sloppy slow kiss that was often a result of surprise or inexperience (or in this case both) but it was enough to keep the younger man quite as lips left his mouth and travel down his jaw and pausing at the curve of his ear.

He blew a few stay gold hairs away from the earlobe and bit down firmly then teased away the pain with a wave of his tongue before speaking.

"You're hot." he panted slightly -mainly for the effect- and kiss the Ed's ear once more and enjoyed the quit gasp from under him.

"I know I'm a good kisser, butI doubt even one of my kisses would make anyone feel that warm so soon... even if you are a teenager..." he pause momentarily to enjoy the angry growl, "Which means you must have a fever and came to spread the joy, am I right?"

"You tried to give me mono! Of course I'm here to get you sick, dumbass!" Edward so kindly reminded Roy by bucking him roughly onto the floor.

"But you didn't get mono. No harm, no foul."

"But you fucking tried, you shit-face, colonel bastard!"

"ButI didn't get you sick." he said, standing back up and leaning over the bed with a wicked grin. "You didn't get sick. Which means you just wanted an excuse to see me! My gosh, I think you have a bit of a crush..."

"Oh hell no!"

"How about that, Edward Elric, having a crush on me..." he mocked.

"Fuck off!" Was the reply he got as the now beat-red blond made his way out the window.

Roy watch as the younger man climbed down the large oak tree, only asking him anything once he was close enough to the ground that a slip and fall wouldn't be too dangerous.

"What'd you have Fullmetal?"

Edward stopped one branch from the ground and cheered-up as soon as he remembered the whole purpose to this trip.

"A few days ago Mrs. Hughes needed a babysitter... She said you couldn't help because you've never had the chicken pox before."

"So you offered. You know, you really are a pain in my ass"

Edward grinned wickedly and jumped down, only to land on his ass due to a dizzy-spell mostly likely cause from over exertion while ill.

Embarrassed, he quickly jumped back to his feet and turned around to yell at the colonel before he could be made fun of or babiedbut was disappointed to see that the man wasn't even concern enough to even stay at the window and make sure he was all right.

With a heavy sigh, he turned to walk away only to be knocked back over as a heavy gray cloth hit him from above. Once again he stumbled to his feet, completely ready to yell his lungs out only to see an empty window.

Growling, he grabbed the gray object -more than ready to shred it- when he finally noticed what it was.

Glancing back at the window once more to make sure no one was there, he swallowed his pride and wrapped the large gray trench coat around his shoulders and began to walk back toward the dorms, hoping that Al wouldn't have noticed his absence.


	6. April

The winters in Central were always wet and dreary, but due to the temperate climate, Spring had a habit of showing up earlier than expected . . . not that the blond teenager splashing down the street at full speed had taken the time to notice.

"Hurry up, Al!" he shouted. "I want to give my report to that bastard!"

The glee in his voice didn't fit the chore and any other time Alphonse might have questioned his brother's motives, but as for today . . .

"I'm sorry, Sir . . . I'm sure he didn't mean to get you all wet. I hope nothing's ruin . . . ED!  
WOULD YOU STOP IT ALREADY . . . ED LOOK OUT FOR THAT LAMP . . . post. Never mind." He sighed, the armor rattling with the movement. Moments later he watched as his (insane)  
sibling picked himself up and stumble around for a bit before starting off toward Central Headquarters again.

"Oh well." He said dejectedly. "Maybe I'll get lucky and he WILL catch mono this time . . ."

Ed, quiet and in bed for a month- THAT sounded like a long over due break he needed. 

The loud sound of his office door being open and slammed shut was enough to knock him out of his medicated slumber.

Rubbing the sleep out of his bloodshot eyes, he glanced up to see Fullmetal pressed up against his office door grinning boldly. Before he could say anything, the blond made his way over to his desk,  
the smile never leaving his face.

"Me and Al saw you out earlier today. You looked like shit. Still do in fact." He said, his grin growing wider as he leaned across the oak desk.

The boy's eagerness truly was amusing.

He allowed a small chuckle to escape his soar throat, but thanks to all the gunk clogging it and his sinus cavities, the sound came out as an undignified snort, followed by a snot bubble.

That was enough to get Ed to back up a bit, smile failing at the not so pleasant sight.

"As much as I hate to inform you . . . " Roy sniffled. "I'm not sick. I don't have the flu, I'm not dying, I have nothing at all contagious. It's just allergies . . . seems the flowers are blooming earlier than normal this year."

Ed stared at the colonel, and the colonel stared back.

"So you're not sick?" The colonel confirmed the statement with a nod and Ed frowned.

Honestly, he has had enemies that were less disappointed about him not being deathly ill before.

"Well, if you're not sick, stop being such a whiny baby." He snorted before plopping down on the leather couch with the grace of a drunk elephant.

Roy huffed.

"Well excuse me for not being in my top shape when every breath is agony." He sneered.

"Then do us both a favor and stop breathing, you bastard."

"I think I'll pass on your suggestion, thank you very much."

"Why? Can't be that hard, people do it every day. You should give it a shot." He snapped, arms crossed and pouting.

The flame alchemist was about to respond (probably with a short joke) when it hit him just how stupid all of this way. Taking a deep breath, he rested his head in his hands and stared down at his desk. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, and Colonel Mustang didn't bother looking up until he heard the younger man clear his troat from across the room. Ed was clearly uncomfortable with the silence that had fallen upon them.

Shaking his head, he muttered to himself, "These immature games will be the death of me . . . " but the thought didn't stop him from standing up and making his way toward the cute blond sulking on his office couch.

"Sounds like you have a bit of a cough there . . . " he leaned close, startling the boy.

"No! I was just . . . " he started to explain that he was clearing his throat only to have warm lips pressing against his own interrupting his explanation.

The shock wore off quickly and he opened his mouth to allow a warm tongue trace the inside of his mouth, leaving him speechless and panting.

"Out of breath too, huh?" Roy mumbled against tan skin as he lipped at the corner of Ed's lips and followed the curve of his face to a sensitive spot along his jaw. "Look at you, clothes all wet . . . you must be coming down with something."

Edward swallowed his protest as strong hands untucked his black undershirt and rough gloves slid along the soft skin of his stomach . . .

And he felt hot. He felt hot and it was hard to breathe and his stomach was doing flip flops and . . . and maybe he was sick. That was the only thing that could explain it. That made it all right. After all, as long as he was sick, he was only getting that rotten bastard back

"Yeah . . . " he gulped. "I must be getting sick . . . "

Roy pressed a kiss to the boy's forehead before moving down to nibble on an ear.

"Well then . . . " he whispered, "let's get you out of those wet clothes before you catch a fever . . . "

Edward gasped and made a startled sound but didn't protest as the rough material of his gloves grazed over a sensitive nipple before Roy reached up with his other hand, unlatching his undercoat.

Yes, these childish games were probably going to kill him, but as he gazed down at a blushed red face framed by golden hair, he didn't really care.

Besides . . . at least Fullmetal's 'Spring Fever' gave him something to distracted his from his 'Hay Fever.' 


	7. May

Roy Mustang never really liked hospitals. Sure, they served a purpuse. A very good purpose in fact, but he still didn't like them.

Luckily, he wasn't the one stuck there.

With his ever present smirk firmly in place, he made his way down the hall and into the small white room. The pale blond slept through his entrance and only stirred slightly when he planted his rear down on the rather uncomfortable matress, his back toward his... almost lover? Well, his back to what ever Edward was to him at the time. He really didn't like to think about it too much, it made his head hurt.

Soon he felt the mattress shift beneath him. He glanced over his shoulder and watch as golden eyes slowly opened and sleepily glared at him, siliently placing blame on the man sitting before him.

Minutes passed in an uncomfortable silence, but Roy wasn't about to complain. Silence -comfortable or not- was a rare treat when Fullmetal was about. Though that accusing look was starting to annoy him. It wasn't his fault.

Gold eyes continued to place blame and Roy sighed.

Okay, so maybe it was a little bit his fault. He did pass the cold he had onto Edward, which -in a round about way- lead him to the hospital. Still, how was he to know the boy's immune system was as small as the rest of him.

He cleared his throat and Edward's glare went from accusing to resentful at the simple action.

"You're brother stopped by today with another request for sick leave. I was a little surprise you didn't come until he inrformed me that you were in the hospital." He twisted around to look more easily at Edward as they spoke. "I figured I better come here before you decided to leave the hospital without a doctor's permission inorder to pay me an unexpected visit."

"Why the hell would I want to go see your lazy ass?" came the rough reply.

"Oh, so you can still talk?" the colonel faked disappointment. "What a pity. I thought we'd be able to have a better conversation while you lacked the ablity to speak..."

"How about I punch your face in? That way it'll hurt if either of us talks, so we won't have to bother with this conversation at all?" he growled, rolling onto his side, but feeling to lazy and dazed to bother with anything more.

"I can talk fairly well with a fat lip, Fullmetal. In fact, I believe I found that little fact out thanks to you."

That true statement was was enough to take Ed off of the defensive, and Roy tried not to grin as the other alchemist looked down at the dull white sheets sheepishly. That was the moment of weakness Roy was waiting for.

He allowed his grin to melt away into his comfortable smirk.

"And to think I came all this way to do you a favor..."

"Do me a favor! What the hell..." his interruption was ignored as Roy continued.

"I mean, you used every other illment as a chance to get me sick, so I thought I should just avoid the enable and save you the trip."

"... are you talking...about... what? I can get you sick with this?" he asked suspeciously as considers it for a moment.

"You're full of it." he finally says. "You pass on viruses, not bad tonsils. You just want an excuse to fucking drool all over me without the risk of getting sick."

Roy took a second to look offended as he stood up, 'preparing' to leave.

"If I wanted to 'drool all over' someone, Fullmetal, it would not be you. Trust me, you currently smell as bad as you look. Maybe you should ask that cute blonde nurse for a sponge bath before sugery? If you don't, I might..."

"Shut up." he mumbled. He spent the last two days sick, sleeping in sweat soaked sheets. Of course he looked terrible. Why should he care about what Mustang thinks about his appearance?

That thought didn't stop him from running his hand through his bangs, trying to manage unmanageable hair.

"Doesn't bacteria cause tonsillitis?"

Edward stared at his superior, eyes narrowed in thought.

"So you can give this shit to someone else through spit?"

Roy shrug.

"I'm no doctor, but I assume so."

That was all the excuse Ed needed to drag himself out of bed and across the room to pull Mustang down into a hard kiss.

Mustang nearly gagged at the bitter taste of medicine as a sloppy wet tongue mercilessly invaded his mouth -Roy could have sworn the kid was trying to lick the back of his throat, tatse his tonsils, or something.

Quickly -before he could drown in spit- he grabbed a handful of blond hair at the base of his neck and pulled away, panting as he held Edward's head back in a more summisive pose. He then placed his mouth upon the salty flesh of his neck, allowing his tongue to follow the quivering adam's apple as it bobbed up and down with each slight gasp and gulp, before returning his lips to Ed's mouth and trying to salvage the horrible kiss from eailer.

Even after months of practice, Edward was still by far the worse kisser he'd ever known. Sometimes that made him wonder why he liked it so much.

Regretfully, he heard the door knob rattle and had to pull away from the kiss before it opened and someone enter.

Edward stood there, hands clenched in the dark blue material of Roy's military jacket, face clearing saying 'why the hell did you stop, you dirty rotten bastard,' until he heard the creak of the door and an echoing gasp of 'Borther!'

Quickly he push away, almost loosing his balance, before feeling warm arms wrap firmly around his waist, pulling him close and preventing him from falling over.

He stood there in the colonels grip, completely stunned. His face went red and for a moment, the aching glands in his throat didn't matter, because as soon as Al would ask about this whole mess, he was going to die of embarrassment.

"Al, it's not..."

"Fullmetal seems to be rather unsteady on his feet at the moment. This is the second time I had to prevent him from falling... must be the fever or maybe the medication. They often make me feel dizzy." He saved and helped Ed back on his own feet.

"Well, brother shouldn't be out of bed." Al said, arms crossed, his tone disapproving, though neither of them could tell if the disapproval was because of Edward being out of bed... or the other thing.

Either way, Edward didn't care. Roy had given him probable denail with that statement, so his brother could say anything he wanted because he couldn't prove it. He flash a breif smile at Roy. He could have kissed the man out of gratitude but that would have defeated the purpose of lying to begin with.

Alphonse quickly ushered his brother back to bed and Roy gave a farewell nod in their general direction. Once at the door, he paused and looked at the two bothers with a smile.

"Oh, Fullmetal?" he said, catching both of their attention, "Don't worry about the operation. I had my tonsils removed when I was seven, it's really not that bad."

The words took a moment to sink in.

"You Bastard! You said sai..." His began but ended in a coughing fit as he choked on his own swollen glands.

"I'll see you after surgery, Edward." he smiled reinsuring and Edward completely failed his attempt at looking pissed off.


	8. June

It was a hot summer day, the kind typical for late June in Central, and just as typical was the out-door flea market his brother had dragged him to.

With a sigh, Edward glanced over the junk scattered about the many tables as his brother thumb through cheesy romance novels some lady had out for a few cents each. He hated flea markets - especially after he was there for over three hours, but felt bad that he hadn't been able to spend as much quality time with Al since he... started getting sick so often.

Still, three hours was three hours, and that was three hours too long in his opinion. Plus, if one more old lady shove some useless dusty trinket in his face, he was going to... well, he didn't know what he would do, but he was sure his brother would be pissed about it.

Desperately, he looked for something at least remotely interesting, and his eyes settled on a blur of color in the distance. With nothing better to do, he shrugged and walked over to see what it was.

As he approached, the blurred colors sharpened into masses of flowers in many different colors. Not as interesting of a distraction as he had hoped for, but at least it was prettier than all the half broken dishes and stuff he'd been stuck looking at all day.

Most of the flora towards the front were roses and other insanely overpriced flowers. He really didn't understand why people liked them so much. They were rather bland and not all that pretty.

Behind the back of the display were flowers more suited towards his taste. Lilies, wild flowers, and a varieties of dyed flowers littered the shelves. A bouquets of rainbow dyed daisy's caught his eye, and he picked it up to admire it and wondered why flowers like these weren't more popular.

Unfortunately, flea market vendors can smell potential customers from a mile way (very similar to the way sharks can smell blood from long distances,) and had him trapped.

"Those are some pretty flowers, aren't they dear?" the old woman said, startling the teen. "Nothing says romance some nice flowers... though a lot of people are allergic to daisies and other flowers from the chrysanthemum family. You're probably better off with some roses..." she hinted and Edward hurriedly waved off her sales pitch.

"Um... no, I was just looking.. wait..." he paused. "What did you say about allergies?"

"Oh, I was just mentioning you'd be better off with roses. Not many people are allergic to those..."

"No... no. These are fine." he said, holding up the rainbow daisies with a grin. "How much?"

Figuring a low sale was better than no sale, the old woman smiled a yellow tooth grinned and ushered Edward to the cash register. He handed her a few dollars, and bid her good day as she ran off to harass other possible customers.

It was then Al decided to 'clear' his throat, and Edward swallowed nervously as he realized his brother just saw him buy flowers...

"Those are nice, Brother... who are they for?" Alphonse asked, and then after an extended pause finished, " Are they for Colonel Mustang?"

The stuttering, blushing mess his brother became answered that question fairly well.

"No, I mean yes.. I mean, remember last spring? He was a snot filled mess cause of, of allergies and, I, um... oh look!" he stalled, pointing at a table a bit farther down, "That lady has little cat statues out! He really should go look..." he said and fled, flowers gripped tightly in his hand.

Alphonse watched him scurry off and sighed.

His brother must be sick in the head... that was the only way to explain such insanities.


End file.
